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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23603335">Lost Boys</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yamaharmonica/pseuds/Yamaharmonica'>Yamaharmonica</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Assassination Classroom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Vampire, Drabble, Dubious Morality, Human!Nagisa, Immortality, M/M, Past Abuse, Some Humor, Vampire!Karma</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 01:29:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,169</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23603335</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yamaharmonica/pseuds/Yamaharmonica</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"When Karma finally confirms to Nagisa that he isn't human, he doesn't find it hard to believe"</p><p>  Series of snapshots about Nagisa's life with a Vampire best friend who lowkey wants to convert him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akabane Karma/Asano Gakushuu, Akabane Karma/Shiota Nagisa</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>275</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Karma finally confirms to Nagisa that he isn't human, he doesn't find it hard to believe. Part of him knew all along, that the mysterious boy who he only ever saw after sunset, who didn't seem to have any other family or friends, who came and went without a sound, couldn't possibly be mortal.</p><p>Karma told him when the two of them where sat on their usual spot; the steel bridge over the abandoned quarry, the city sprawled out in front of them, streetlights twinkling like neon stars.</p><p>"I know." Nagisa replied to Karma's confession without even thinking about it. Karma's eyes widened in surprise- it wasn't an expression Nagisa was used to seeing on the other's face.</p><p>"What do you mean 'you know' how could you know I was a vampire?" Karma retorted, eyebrows raised.</p><p>"Okay, I didn't know you where a vampire." Nagisa clarified. "But I knew you weren't human- I mean. I guess I could sense you were supernatural in someway.."</p><p>"I've had a lot of different reactions when I've told people. But this is a first." Karma said, a smirk growing on his face. "You're full of surpises, Nagisa."</p><p>Nagisa felt a smile grow on his face. He liked it when he managed to impress Karma, as rare as that was. "What reactions do people normally have?"</p><p>"That depends." Karma said breezily. "A few years ago people would be terrified- they'd call you a demon and try and burn you at the stake. Most of the time. In recent times though, most people don't believe you and ask for proof."</p><p>"So I'm not the only one you've told.. in recent times." Nagisa said, an unfamiliar clawing at his throat. Karma laughed.</p><p>"Jealous?" He teased, his eyes practically sparkling with mirth. " I don't know how long it's been. I don't keep track of years. Don't worry. I haven't told anyone since I started speaking to you.. "</p><p>"I wasn't jealous. Just curious." Nagisa pouted, but he couldn't even convince himself. "Anyway- " He said, changing the subject. "You've just told me you're a vampire. I have a TON of questions about that."</p><p>"Oh yeah, like what?" Karma said, feigning nonchalance, but Nagisa knew him well enough at this point to see he was eager to show off.</p><p>"Well.. do you drink blood? do you have powers? Is it anything like Twilight?"Nagisa fired off.</p><p>"Yes. Yes. What's Twilight?" Karma replied casually. Nagisa practically gasped.</p><p>"How have you not heard of Twilight? it's only the biggest book of the 2010's one of the most notorious pieces of vampire literature EVER." Nagisa said.</p><p>"Okay. so me being a Vampire is not shocking to you, but me not reading your modern vampire book is? You have priorities mixed up." Karma chucked. "But wow- it's already 2010? time goes by fast."</p><p>"It's 2016." Nagisa replied quietly. For the first time since Karma revealed he was a vampire, Nagisa felt unsettled and he wasn't sure why. Karma hummed in recognition, it didn't seem like he cared that he'd missed the date by six whole years. <em>How old is he? How long has he been around that time means nothing to him? </em>When Karma had said people tried to burn him at the stake a <em>few</em> years ago. <em>What did he mean by a few years? what where a few years to Karma?</em> For some he felt like he couldn't ask.</p><p>The two of them sat in silence for a few moments more, both staring out into the city pensively. It really looked beautiful when you where this far away and you couldn't see the dirt and litter up close; just the urban skyline.</p><p>"You said you have powers." Nagisa said slowly, turning to Karma with a smile on his face. "What kind of powers?"</p><p>Karma grinned. This was definitely something he'd been waiting eagerly to show off. "This is one of my favorites." He said, then stood up suddenly, teetering dangerously on the edge of the bridge. Before Nagisa had a chance to tell him to be careful, he leaned forward and fell off. A silent scream escaped Nagisa's mouth, his mind went blank, his stomach dropped.</p><p>
  <em>Karma fell! Karma fell! Karma fell!</em>
</p><p>"You look like you've seen a ghost." a voice from above him said. Still shaking, Nagisa looked up frantically, still shaking, tears in his eyes. Karma was suspended in midair above him, that infuriating grin still on his face as he floated. It was so bizarre, like something from a film. Karma was snickering, by the time Nagisa got his breath back and he was able to formulate a sentence, Karma was still laughing.</p><p>"You almost gave me a heart attack!" Nagisa chocked out. Karma's smile widened.</p><p>"That'd be fine. I'd just turn you into a vampire and you'd be able to fly too." Karma said. Nagisa had a feeling he wasn't joking.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>2. Nagisa learned very quickly, even before he had learned Karma was a vampire, that it was pointless trying to arrange to meet with Karma. First of all, Karma didn't have a cell-phone and even though his could use Nagisa's perfectly after just one lesson, he refused to buy one- he said he wasn't interested in fads. Whenever Nagisa attempted to meet Karma at a specific place at a specific time, he was a no-show, or he'd come sauntering over an hour late. Karma's affable smile and casual excuses made it impossible to be mad at him. </p><p>Nagisa instead learned just to wait for Karma to show up on his own terms, which he did, frequently (always after dark, of course); On Nagisa's walk home, when Nagisa went to the shops, when he went to let the cat out and after revealing he was a Vampire, Nagisa would frequently wake up to the sound of tapping, and Karma floating outside his window.</p><p>Karma came and went as he pleased, like a stray cat. He didn't much care if it was an inconvenient time like the early hours of the morning or the night before a big test and Nagisa never chased him away. He was always happy to see him.</p><p> </p><p>3.</p><p>"What happens if you get caught in daylight?" Nagisa asked one time. They where both sat on his bed, speaking in low voices so his mother sleeping in the next room wouldn't overhear. </p><p>"I burn." Karma said bluntly, his eyes not giving anything away. "Creatures of darkness aren't permitted to enjoy God's light."</p><p>"That sucks. I'm sorry."</p><p>"Pfft. Don't be- not being able to see sunlight is a small price to pay for immortality and powers beyond human possibility; I'm not tied to human society and it's stupid rules and expectations." Karma shrugged. But later, when Nagisa showed him a video of the sunrise on his phone, Karma replayed it again and again.</p><p>4.</p><p>   "I'm going to fail all my classes." Nagisa whined, burying his head in his maths book in despair. "I'll never get into college, I'll never get a job, I'm going to grow up to be a bum."</p><p>"Just become a vampire." Karma said. "Then you wont have to worry about any of that stuff- school, working, growing up.."</p><p>"You make it sound so easy." Nagisa huffed. His mother was working a late shift tonight, so the two of them where sat at the kitchen table, Nagisa's math homework between them.</p><p>"It could be. Just you humans make it much more complicated than it has to be. All I have to bother about is my next meal. No forcing myself to be something I'm not to fit society's ideals, just so I can have a few coins thrown my way so I don't die. The dying of old age anyway." Karma said. He'd started hinting that Nagisa should be a vampire more and more often. Nagisa mostly ignored it, but there were times he was tempted. Especially when he had Maths homework due in the next day.</p><p>"Can Vampires die of old age?" Nagisa asked.</p><p>"I haven't aged in as long as I can remember." Karma replied, looking off into the distance.</p><p>"How long is that?" Nagisa questioned. Karma shrugged.</p><p>"You know I'm not good with years." Karma said.</p><p>"Yes I know. You referred to Planet of the Apes as 'that film that came out a couple of years ago'." Nagisa deadpanned. He lowkey still wasn't over that. "Okay. Let's try something else. What year where you born? When you were a human?"</p><p>Karma scrunched his face up in thought. "When I was human.." He murmured. "You know, they only really started keeping track of the years people were born recently? At least for normal people. I was definitely around before they started recording the Zodiac to count the years. So it's impossible to say."</p><p>"Wait- before the Zodiac animals? When even was that?." Nagisa exclaimed. He knew Karma had been around for a long time, but he was thinking more in the ball-park of a hundred years, but maybe it was much longer. Nagisa didn't realise he'd been staring into space until Karma leaned over him and started writing on his homework. </p><p>"Okay, that's the right answers to your stupid homework. Can we play videogames now?" Karma said impatiently, Nagisa opening his mouth to protest, but Karma continued. "Look- I've even written it in your hand writing. Low lets do something fun."</p><p>"I'm not going to learn if you do it for me." Nagisa said begrudgingly as Karma pulled him out the chair. Karma laughed.</p><p>"Just become a vampire and it wont matter." He retorted as he walked Nagisa to the bedroom. Nagisa didn't protest any further, after all, he had been so happy when Karma had found a piece of technology he had actually enjoyed.. getting the other hooked on the new Sonic Ninja game had been one of his proudest moments. The two played right through the whole game, sitting in front of the screen for hours, laughing with each other, like normal teenagers. Like normal friends.</p><p>   The next day, when Nagisa was sat in classroom, trying not the fall asleep into his lunch, he googled when they started using the Zodiac animals. It was 2000 years ago. He almost chocked.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nagisa realises it's difficult to balance a demanding vampire-best friend with passing classes.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>  It was taking Nagisa all of his will-power not to keel-over and pass out into his test-paper. He felt as if his eyeballs were literally trying to roll back into his head, and keeping his head up was like balancing a tonne of rocks. In retrospect, perhaps staying up until the early hours of the morning playing video-games with Karma two nights in a row, right before a test, had been a bad idea.</p><p>He'd known this at the time, of course, but something about the shine in Karma's eyes, along with that smirk of his that was an odd mixture of innocence and malice, made it impossible to say no. <em>Besides </em>if Nagisa tried to explain the importance of tests to Karma he would likely just laugh and dismiss it as a meaningless human exercise.</p><p>Well. Nagisa thought, as he stared at the paper in front of him, devoid of any of his own handwritig, he was about to fail this meaningless human exercise.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p>"<em>I can't</em>." Nagisa said for the third time, to the other boy floating outside his window. Karma just laughed, obviously not taking Nagisa seriously, he pulled at the window to open it once again, and Nagisa grabbed it firmly to keep it closed.</p><p>"Come on, Nagisa, you know I need to be invited to come in." He said, a playfully whiny lilt to his voice that Nagisa found near-impossible to resist. But his grip on the window-latch remained tight.</p><p>"I'm being serious. I'm going to have to repeat the year if I fail any more tests." Nagisa replied, trying to make himself as firm as he could. Karma gave a dismissive snort and rolled his eyes. </p><p>"That's just more meaningless human stuff." Karma scoffed, there was a sharpness to his expression that hadn't been there before. Although he was still smiling, he was <em>pissed. </em>Still. Nagisa had to give himself credit for how accurately he'd predicted Karma's reaction.</p><p>"Well, Karma, I am human. I have to do human things sometimes." Nagisa retorted evenly. Karma just rolled his eyes, looking even more perturbed. </p><p>"So? Just stop being human then. I could turn you right now if I wanted." Karma said, folding his arms. Nagisa shook his head.</p><p>"I can't just give up my whole life on a whim like that." </p><p>"Why not? We'd have fun together. We could do what we want, when we want."</p><p>"Listen, Karma, it's not like you come over here every night. Why don't you just go and do whatever you do when you're not hanging out with me." Nagisa said, starting to feel a little bit anxious with the hostility in Karma's voice. "I'm not saying I don't want to see you ever, just not tonight- "</p><p>"But I wanted to see you tonight!" Karma interrupted, practically pouting.</p><p>"Karma, you're being childish- "</p><p>"Good. I don't want to be grown up. Being a grown-up means doing things you hate because you think you're supposed to. I'll never be like that. I'll always do what I want, when I want." Karma said.</p><p>"Well I can't be like you, Karma- I have other people in my life to think about. You only have yourself." Nagisa said, it came out more harsh than he intended, and Karma appeared hurt for a fraction of a second.</p><p>"I thought me and you were best friends. That means more important than anyone else, right?"</p><p>There was a moment of silence, where Karma and Nagisa locked eyes. In that moment, Nagisa almost relented. He would so much rather spend the night with Karma than spend the night in his bedroom alone.</p><p>"I can't." Nagisa said, for the fourth and final time, his voice hardly above a whisper. Karma scowled, his eyes almost appearing to glow venomously.</p><p>"Fine." He hissed. "If you'd rather sit in a room writing meaningless scribbles that you hate doing, than spend time with me, then so be it- !"</p><p>Then he disappeared into the night before Nagisa could say another word. Nagisa let out a sigh he didn't realise he had been holding in. His hands were shaking. He had never argued with Karma before and he hated it. Karma was so selfish at times! but he supposed a side-effect of living a life without consequence is you never have to think of anybody but yourself. </p>
<hr/><p>  Nagisa was being followed. He'd noticed the heavy, purposeful footsteps behind him since two blocks back. he knew taking a short-cut through the old part of town had been a bad idea, but he didn't want his mother to reprimand him for being late again (even though it was her who insisted he go to after school study sessions in the first place).</p><p>Nagisa tried to quicken his pace, attempting to loose his assilant, but the stalker easily matched his speed, and the the thud of feet against pavement was getting closer. Nagisa could hear him breathing now, he could tell by the sound it was a man. Desperately, Nagisa's eyes darted around for some sort of salvation; a shop he could dive into, another person he could speak to, but all he saw was a desolate street with boarded up windows.</p><p>Nagisa chanced a glance over his shoulder, the man behind him was tall and wiry, wearing a long unwashed trench coat. They made eye-contact for a second and Nagisa felt a spike of fear. He dropped all pretences and ran. It seemed the stalker had the same thought, because suddenly, a long arm with bony skeleton-like fingers reached out and grabbed him, pulling him back by a fistfull of hair. Nagisa yelped.</p><p>"I- I don't have any money." Nagisa gasped. The man grinned, revealing a set of yellow teeth. God he smelled <em>awful.</em></p><p>"I don't want your money, little girl." The man replied, wrapping his other arm around Nagisa's body, and started dragging him into a side-alley. Nagisa let out a a scream which was quickly silenced, he struggled with all his might, but it did little more than slow down his assailant.</p><p>As the light from the main street disappeared, so did Nagisa's hope. He felt tears streaming down his eyes. <em>No! No! This can't happen.</em></p><p>Then all of a sudden, the man dropped to the floor, his arms going limp . Nagisa started to fall with him, but another pair of hands grabbed his forearms, steadying him. He looked up and saw a boy with red hair and a devilish smile stood in front of him. His attacker laid on the floor behind him, motionless. His hands were still shaking.</p><p>"Don't worry. You're safe now." The boy said.</p><p>And that was how he met Karma Akabane.</p>
<hr/><p>It had been 19 days and 13.5 hours since Nagisa had last seen Karma. Not that he was keeping track or anything.</p><p>Karma was so petty, giving Nagisa the silent treatment for so long. Or maybe he really had become bored of him. Either way, it was childish. On that note, how old was Karma? Physically, at least. At what age was he turned? Karma definitely looked youthful, he certainly wouldn't look out of place in Nagisa's middleschool class. Nagisa wondered what that must be like; stunted forever as a teen. No wonder he was so childish. </p><p>Nagisa wasn't sure when all of the colour seeped out of his every day life. School and home seemed so listless and grey now, while his time with Karma had felt like a vivid and <em>real. </em>It wasn't like anything had gotten worse about his daily life since he'd met Karma, rather, meeting Karma had shown him how happy he <em>could</em> be and now everything else felt dull and petty in comparison.</p><p>There was nothing special about Nagisa's life. His parents were divorced and he saw his Dad sporadically, he lived in a small apartment that his mother kept meticulously clean, he was forced to go to a private school he couldn't afford and wasn't smart enough for and his mother worked overtime just to foot the bill. His consistently disappointed his mother, starting with not being born and girl and continuing throughout the rest of his life.</p><p>He took the same train to school everyday bloated with commuters, struggled through the same lessons, had the same shallow conversations with friends, came home, was lectured by his mother (if she was in) struggled through homework, played a video-game he was hardly interested in. Slept. Wake up. Repeat.</p><p>Only now, he was plagued with fantasy's of 'what if'. He was starting to regret turning Karma down more with every passing day, and a tiny part of him was starting to resent being human at all.</p>
<hr/><p>"I probably over-reacted." Karma said with a casual shrug as he sat on the ledge of the building, wind blowing through his hair, Nagisa sat beside him, close enough that their arms brushed against each other.</p><p>"You think?" Nagisa retorted, arms folded. He wanted to be mad at Karma, he really did, but when the other appeared out of nowhere after 23 days and accosted him on his walk home from school, Nagisa felt as though his heart may burst from happiness. He could hardly keep himself from beaming <em>Karma's back! He's back! I didn't just dream him up! </em>"Why did you stay away for so long?"</p><p>Karma scoffed. "It's been what- three days?"</p><p>"Try three weeks!" Nagisa huffed, aghast. "Are all vampires such bad at time-keeping, or is it just you?"</p><p>Karma paused before answering in an almost bashful tone. "I may of been told that my time-tracking abilities are.. worse than average.. by other vampires."</p><p>"Wait.. other vampires. I can't believe we've never talked about that! Are there a lot of you? Do you have any vampire friends? Are they like you?" Nagisa asked, a rapid-fire of quick questions. Karma just breezily held up three fingers.</p><p>"No. No. and nobody else is like me." Karma said. "But they are all killed by sunlight and have powers beyond human possibility if that's what you're asking."</p><p>"Do they have underground covens secretly controlling the world, like in Twilight?" Nagis asked, unable to help himself. Predictably, Karma rolled his eyes.</p><p>"Please stop using your trashy teen-girl novel as a reference point for how Vampires work." Karma said, but he was laughing, and soon Nagisa was laughing as well. And just like that, things go back to normal.</p>
<hr/><p>       This is what happened the first time Nagisa found Karma, rather than the other way around.</p><p>It wasn't like Nagisa had been <em>trying </em>to find Karma. He'd realized months ago that even if you traipsed the streets for hours, it was unlikely you'd ever be able to find him, Karma was like a phantom, he'd given up ever trying to look for him and instead just waited for him to materialize. </p><p>   Nagisa was just walking home from school (he'd stayed late on cleaning duty) when he heard the sounds of struggling coming from the alley-way. There was the sounds of feet scuffling and a body hitting the wall, along with muffled cries of pain. He hesitated for a moment. It would be so easy to just keep walking and pretend he hadn't heard anything. But no. That wouldn't be right. After all, what would of become of him if Karma hadn't saved him all those months ago?</p><p>Cautiously, with his phone in hand he approached the alleyway. He saw one figure leaning over an unconscious one. His blood ran cold and he prayed he wasn't too late. Silently, he reached into his pocket before saying in the loudest, most authoritative voice he could muster.</p><p>"Get away from him. I've already called the police."</p><p>The attacker turned around, and it was then that Nagisa noticed the colour of his hair. He eyes widened in horror as his fears were confirmed, Karma turned to look at him, a wide grin on his face and blood dripping down his chin. He dropped the body in his grip that was far too limp and white to possibly be alive.</p><p>"Nagisa. What are you doing here?"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for the comments on the first chapter, I really love reading them!<br/>So yeah Nagisa knows Karma is a Vampire but he's never really thought about the whole 'killing people for food' part, but now he has to confront it..<br/>Let me know what you thought!<br/>Next chapter a new character will be introduced.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Have you ever been so bored that you overlooked murder so you could stay friends with someone interesting?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Did the vampires in Twilight not have to drink blood?" Karma said, patting Nagisa's back gently as Nagisa heaved into a bin. Nagisa turned around and shot him a withering look, he'd just witnessed Karma kill someone, drink their blood and dispose of the body by cramming it into a skip. He was <em>not </em>in the mood for jokes. Karma didn't seem to catch onto that and continued. "I did tell you that trashy YA novels aren't the best source of information on the supernatural."</p><p>Nagisa could tell that Karma's wry tone was covering an undercurrent of anxiety, there was a tiny hint of terror in his voice that Nagisa recognised as the familiar fear of rejection.</p><p>"I know Vampires drink blood. I know <em>you</em> drink blood." Nagisa said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, pulling away from the bin. He couldn't bring himself to look at Karma, afraid the other might still have blood stains on his face. "But knowing it and seeing it.. are two very different things."</p><p>"What do you want me to say?" Karma said, after a long pause. He sounded uncharacteristically helpless. </p><p>"How often do you.. drink from people? Do you always kill them? Do you kill just anybody?" Nagisa asked, the questions tumbling from his mouth before he he could even think about it.</p><p>"It depends how much power I've used.. sometimes weekly. Sometimes monthly. I almost always kill them. I try to target people who wont be missed, and I never kill children." Karma said, sounding solemn as he answered. Nagisa didn't know why he had asked. There was nothing Karma could of said that would make the knowledge Karma had just killed a man and did so regularly any better. Even now, Nagisa could see the cold dead eyes of Karma's latest victim staring back at him, accusingly.</p><p>"And there's no way around it? Like you can't drink animal blood to stay alive?" Nagisa questioned, eyes still trained on the ground. Out of the periphery of his vision, he saw Karma shook his head.</p><p>"You don't think that's been tried before?" Karma replied, he slowly reached out to Nagisa, who took a step back and gulped.</p><p>"Well.. How can you live with yourself?" Nagisa cried, finally looking at Karma. He hadn't meant to said that, but once again the words came tumbling out. Karma blinked, looking hurt by the other's outburst.</p><p>"Nagisa.. I have to. Just like you humans kill lesser beings for food, so do I. " Karma said, slowly. "When you've been around for as long as I have- seen family lines and civilizations come and go, one human life doesn't mean very much. It's what.. eighty years long? So what if I cut it short by thirty years. Thirty years is like a second. I've lived a hundred human life times. The only way I can live is by killing others. I could either accept it or die. Can you accept it, Nagisa?"</p><p>Naisa stared at him, everything he said felt wrong but it was true. He knew he couldn't judge Karma by human standards because after all, he wasn't human. He couldn't blame Karma for what he had done anymore than he would blame a Lion for killing a gazelle. It was just his nature. It was as Karma said, the only question was, if Nagisa could accept that part of Karma or if this was his limit and he'd have to turn his back on Karma and the world of the supernatural forever. Nagisa took a few deep breaths. Karma was watching him with anxiously-eager eyes, awaiting his response.</p><p>"Okay." Nagisa said. "Let's just go back to my place and play video games."</p><p>A wide grin spread over Karma's face as he bounded forward and slung an arm around Nagisa's shoulders. He was practically beaming. "I knew you were special, Nagisa."</p><p>  Nagisa continued to internally justify his decision for days afterwords; Who was he to shun Karma? It wasn't like Nagisa himself was a vegitarian, how could he judge Karma for eating humans when he ate animals? And even if he was vegetarian, or even vegan, some vegtables were picked by child-laborers in other countries.. in fact, Nagisa's clothes were probably made by little kids working in a sweat-shop, politicians used tax money to fund wars in foreign countries to maintain their power, the media was all propaganda, a few rich families controlled the planet- point being, it was impossible to be an ethical consume anyway, why should Karma killing a few people to survive bother him when the whole world was so corrupt? At least Karma was honest.</p><hr/><p>   "This is amazing!" Nagisa breathed as he soared high above the city. </p><p>"Just one of the many perks of being a vampire." Karma laughed. He had tight hold of Nagisa's hands as he flew through the sky. The wind blew through Nagisa's hair, the people below him looked like ants, the neon lights from the buildings were beautiful. This was exhilarating- a little terrifying- but amazing. He was sure he had made the right choice in keeping Karma in his life after seeing him kill a man last week. This experience was worth it. </p><hr/><p>"Every class Nagisa! You're failing nearly every class!" His mother screamed, hurling a vase at him. Nagisa hardly managed to duck out the way in time, it smashed into the wall behind him, shards flying all over the floor. </p><p>"I'm sorry Mom- " Nagisa said, holding a shaking arm infront of his face in case she decided to chuck anything else at him. His ears were still ringing from when she had hit him around the side of the head, and there was a small scratch on his cheek from her nail. Nagisa had managed to get out of hitting distance, but now she was throwing things.</p><p>"Sorry! Sorry? What good does sorry do to me?" Hiromei sobbed, looking mournful, tears falling freely from her eyes. She sunk to her knees, putting her head in her hands. "What did I do so wrong to get an idiot for a son? Is there something wrong with you, Nagisa? That's not rhetorical. Should I be getting you tested for being.. slow in the head?"</p><p>Nagisa winced, her words were more painful than her physical violence. His mother had been this way for as long as he could remember.. nice and sweet one moment but prone to violent fits of rage at the slightest provocation. From a young age, Nagisa had to learn to walk on egg shells to keep her happy or face her wrath. At some point, his father had grown tired of the constant fighting and left Nagisa to deal with it alone.  Worst of all, his mother had never seen Nagisa as his own person, just an extension of herself, going as far as forbidding him from cutting his hair treating him like a doll to live out her own fantasies of being a 'pretty girl'.</p><p>"I'm sorry." Nagisa said again, kneeling down next his his mother. Her anger had burnt out, and now she would likely cry for a while, Nagisa had grown used to the phases of her moods.</p><p>"I've tried so hard.. to give you a better life than I had.. better opportunities. And you're wasting it." She sniffed, grabbing onto Nagisa's arm. Nagisa felt a black hole of guilt open in his stomach. He knew she worked extra shifts just to pay for the private school tuition they really couldn't afford.. He knew she cared about him in her own twisted way and he was choosing to spend his time with Karma instead of studying but... Everything she wanted for him, was exactly the opposite of what Nagisa actually wanted in life. He hated being forced into this stupid box. He wanted more.. </p><hr/><p>"What was it like to turn into a vampire?" Nagisa asked, as the two of them sat on the rooftop of his apartment complex together, both licking an icecream (Karma said he couldn't taste it, but liked the cold sensation).</p><p>"I can't actually remember turning into a vampire." Was Karma's response. Nagisa glanced at him.</p><p>"So you can't remember ever being a human?"</p><p>"Nope." Karma said.</p><p>"Figures." Nagisa wasn't exactly surprised by that.. when he'd asked Karma about how old he was he'd just given some vague answer about how they didn't used to keep track of years 'back in the day' which would mean he was at least 2000 years old, and Nagisa was starting to think maybe even older than that. </p><p>"I've turned people into Vampires. So I know what happens. If I drink someone's blood and then leave them alive they'll turn; First, they'll go into a death-like coma for a couple of days, then, they'll awake one night as a vampire." Karma explained. "They're usually pretty confused at first.. when they first emerge they're like wild animals, it takes a few weeks to get their senses fully back."</p><p>Nagisa listened, enthralled. "How many people have you turned."</p><p>"Over the years. A lot." Karma replied, a slightly fond smile on his face. Nagisa frowned slightly.</p><p>"If you've turned so many vampires how come you're... alone now?" He asked. Karma scowled and looked at the floor.</p><p>"A few of us just drifted apart, some went on to meet other Vampires or start their own covens." Karma said, before looking up. "But back in the day, they used to kill Vampires.. and it wasn't always so easy to hide from the sunlight when all the houses were made from wood and prone to burning down.. even further back, people didn't even have houses, or at least the shelters they did have couldn't block out the sun and you couldn't wander too far from were there was a cave. Not everyone was as good at staying alive as I am."</p><p>"I'm sorry, Karma.." Nagisa said, thinking about all the loss the other must have faced in the many, many years he had been alive. </p><p>"Don't worry about it. It's all in the past." Karma said, finishing off his ice-cream. "But you know what would cheer me up? If you became my new Vampire companion."</p><p>"How do you always manage to circle back to that." Nagisa said, but he has to admit, it was becoming more and more tempting.</p><hr/><p> Nagisa tapped the pencil on his paper as he stared at the board. School was so boring and pointless. He doodled a tiny picture of Karma in the margins. Time in school didn't feel real, it just felt like he was on standby, waiting for Karma to show up and make things real again. He was a bad student and a bad son. </p><hr/><p>"Nagisa, this is amazing!" Karma cried out in joy as he shoveled the curry down his mouth. The two of the were sat in Nagisa's kitchen, since his mother was working late tonight. </p><p>"I was going to say it's not edible for human consumption, but I guess you aren't human." Nagisa said with a chuckle, enjoying watching Karma so happy; Nagisa had accidentally tipped waay too much spice into his curry, for some reason Karma opted to try it, and it turned out Karma actually could taste things, but only if they were monstrously spicy. "I'll have to by you some ghost chillies."</p><p>"This changes everything." Karma said as he licked the last of it off the spoon.</p><p>"And it only took you four thousand years to work out." Nagisa said, before both of them burst into laughter. </p><p>Later, the two of them were sat on the roof of Nagisa's building opposite, a collection of spicy food recently bought from the convenience store laid out between them like a demented picnic as Karma sampled them.</p><p>"Wasabi is definetly a winner." Karma said, as he squirted a tube directly onto his tongue. Nagisa winced just looking, but giggled a little at the same time at the absurdity of it all. </p><p>"I think I'll just stick to my sushi." Nagisa replied.</p><p>Even when they weren't flying through the city, just spending time with Karma with fun, it was the only time that Nagisa was happy. He'd been thinking about it more and more.. He wanted the kind of freedom Karma had, he didn't want to live with the shackles of his mother and society around him all the time. Sure, he'd have to kill people, but what if he only killed <em>bad </em>people? Or people that were nearly dying? He was sure there was a way around it.</p><p>"What is it, Nagisa?" Karma asked, noticing his pensive silence. Nagisa let out a sigh before answering.</p><p>"When you say about turning me into a vampire... are you serious?" Nagisa asked. Karma stared at him for a second, then his face split into a grin.</p><p>"Nagisa of course- " He started to say, but suddenly something happened. There was a blur of motion too fast for Nagisa to follow. One moment, Karma was sat in front of him, the next something went barreling in to him and Karma went skidding across the concrete. It took Nagisa a moment to realise the <em>thing </em>that had gone flying into Karma was a person- Karma was crouched on the floor, holding his face were he'd been hit and his assailant, a blond boy with sharp purple eyes stood over him. He looked to be about Karma's height, there was something magnetic about him, Nagisa couldn't look away..</p><p>"I thought I told you this city was <em>my </em>territory, Karma, I thought I told you to stay out of it." The boy hissed, glaring at Karma as if he was dirt. Nagisa could only stare, in shock.</p><p>"Shuu-chan. Long time no see. It's been years. I've missed you." Karma said, his tone mocking. 'Shuu-chan' raised his leg to kick Karma, but the other caught it.</p><p>"I told you not to call me that." Shuu-chan growled, he stepped away from Karma before shooting a glare to Nagisa. "You. Kid. You'll stay away from this bastard if you know what's good for you. Just stay in your house and don't invite him in."</p><p>"Aw, Jealous of my new friend? Don't worry. There'll always be room in my heart for you, even if you do have a stick up your ass." Karma teased, clearly not intimidated by the other.</p><p>"Five days. Five days to get out of here, Karma, or I'll decapitate you myself! I'm being generous here." Shuu-chan threatened, before jumping up into the air and flying off. Karma watched him go, a smile on his face too large for someone who had just threatened his life. Nagisa watched, the last few events had unfolded almost too fast for him to follow.</p><p>"So that was.. another Vampire?" Nagisa said. Karma nodded in confirmation.</p><p>"An old friend. Thinks he's a lot scarier than he is."</p><p>"Should we be worried? I mean.. he told you he had to leave." Nagisa said. He didn't want Karma to go, but he didn't want him to be in trouble either, that other vampire seemed powerful somehow.</p><p>"Nah. This will just make things more fun." Karma said. "I love a good fight."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Gakushuu has arrived in the story! So Nagisa has another source to learn about Vampire lore (if Gakushuu will talk to him that is) thanks for all the comments.<br/>Let me know what you thought of this chapter and what you think will happen next!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nagisa gets to know Gakushuu</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Why does he want to kill you?"</p><p>"Who?"</p><p>"<em>Valdamir Putin</em>." Nagisa replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "The blonde vampire who just threatened to decapitate you literally two minutes ago. Obviously."</p><p>"Who the hell is Pladamir Vutin?" Karma asked, Nagisa resisted the urge to face-palm.</p><p>"That isn't really relevant." Nagisa said, shaking his head. He was starting to get frustrated about Karma's apparent inability to take anything seriously. The red haired vampire was currently sprawled out on the concrete roof, looking up at the sky like his life hadn't been threatened moments earlier, still chewing on a spoonfull of spicy curry. "Why does this Shu-Chan want to kill you?"</p><p>Karma paused for a moment before answering.</p><p>"Vampires can be very territorial." He said. His mercury eyes stayed fixed on the sky. "Shuu has this weird superiority/inferiority complex, so he <em>always </em>has to be the strongest person around. Having me there kind of disrupts that."</p><p>"He wants to kill you just for that?" Nagisa asked with a frown. For the first time ever, he felt like Karma was lying to him. Well. Maybe not lying to him, but omitting some important part of the truth. Karma finally turned to face Nagisa.</p><p>"It's getting late, shouldn't you try and get a few hours sleep before you have to wake up and go to child-prison, or school, whatever you want to call it." Karma replied, standing up off the floor and stretching. Nagisa blinked in suprise.</p><p>"Karma, when have you ever cared about my sleep scheduled?" Nagisa said, his eyes following the other's figure as he walked across the apartment block roof. "Are you sure you're okay? How hard did Shu-Chan kick you? Can Vampires get a concussion?"</p><p>Karma laughed at that. "Well. I don't want to be blamed when you start napping in your stupid math class or whatever." He said, before turning around to wave. "Catch you later, Nagisa."</p><p>Just like that, Karma stepped off the edge of the building into the darkness. Even though Nagisa had seen him do this plenty of times now, his heart still skipped a beat for a moment as he watched the other dissapear into the night.</p><p>"Bye." Nagisa said after him, unsure the other would even be able to hear him. <em>What was that all about?</em> Karma telling him to go to bed for <em>school? </em>He didn't know what, but he was sure Karma was hiding something..</p><hr/><p>'How do you kill a vampire'</p><p>Nagisa felt pretty stupid googling that. The answers were all things that Nagisa had already heard of; Stake through the heart, blessed bulet, decapitation. Nagisa wasn't sure how he would achieve any of those things against Shu-Chan, if he was even half as powerful as Karma, Nagisa would stand no chance.</p><p>Ever since last night, Nagisa had become more and more terrified for Karma's life. Karma had seemed so unbothered at first Nagisa had felt the same way, but the following morning, Nagisa woke up with a dark feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. Karma might actually die this week, he realised, and there was nothing he could do about it. So now, instead of listening to his teacher drone on about quadratic equations, he was hiding his phone under his desk and searching the internet for ways he could possibly try to help Karma. So far, he'd come up with nothing. </p><p>He didn't want to imagine his life without Karma now. Never hearing his voice again, or going on adventures with him in the middle of the night. The worst part of it, would be that nobody else even knows Karma exists. Nagisa would be left grieving him all alone.</p><p>He scrolled a little further on his phone. Holy Water. Now that might work.. were was the nearest Church. </p><hr/><p>"You're a real idiot, you know." A stranger in the crowd said as he walked past. Nagisa, who had been walking home from school, looked up to see the person who had spoken to him, his heart freezing when he realised who it was.</p><p>"Shu-Chan?"</p><p>He stopped in his tracks and turned around to scowl at him. "Don't call me that." He said. "My name is Gakushuu."</p><p>"Um. Sorry." Nagisa said, staring at the blond vampire vampire in front of him. He was struck by how normal Gakushuu looked, how well he fit in with the crowd of middle-school students walking past him, making their way home. It was hard to describe, but there was always something other-worldy about Karma; he hardly showed up when other people were around, usually sticking to the shadowy parts of society, even the clothes he wore (always black) seemed distinct from normal society somehow. But Gakushuu, stood there wearing a coat Nagisa was sure was designer, seemed like he belonged.</p><p>"Well. It's not your fault, Karma is the one who came up with that stupid nickname." Gakushuu said dismissively. "Come and get a drink with me."</p><p>"Um." Nagisa hesitated, unconsciously taking a step-back. After all, last time he'd seen this boy he was assaulting his friend and making death threats.</p><p>"I mean a real drink, like coffee or something, that wasn't a euphemism for blood-sucking. I'm not going to hurt you. You're not my enemy here." Gakushuu said, his tone commanding, there was an inviting smile on his face that Nagisa didn't quite trust. </p><p>"Okay." Nagisa said, still feeling unsure. But he doubted Gakushuu would try an harm him with this many people around, so Nagisa followed him through the crowd of a nearby cafe. </p><p>"This is one of the few places that actually stays open late enough for me to visit." Gakushuu said conversationally to Nagisa, his tone light and friendly. "You have no <em>idea </em>how hard it is to find cafes that don't close before six; and most bars wont let me in."</p><p>"I can imagine." Nagisa said, still feeling confused about the whole situation. Karma had never complained about closing times before, but then again, Nagisa could never imagine Karma wanting to go to any <em>human </em>establishments like cafes. Karma liked to haunt abandoned quarrys, empty parks and derelict buildings.  The waitress at the door greeted them with a smile.</p><p>"Oh. It's nice to see you again." She said to Gakushuu, blushing. "And you've brought a friend? How nice- here, let me show you to your table."</p><p>Next thing Nagisa knew, he was sat oppisite the other vampire, in this cozy little resturant  small table between them. This was the first time he'd seen a Vampire properly interact with humans that weren't him, Karma was so disconnected he felt like Nagisa's imaginary friend sometimes. It was a little disconcerting.</p><p>"Order what you want. My treat." Gakushuu said, that dazzling smile still in place.</p><p>"You have money?" Nagisa said, surprised, because Karma certainly didn't. Nagisa suspected everything he owned was probably stolen. Gakushuu laughed.</p><p>"Of course I have money. I wouldn't invite you here and expect you to pay."</p><p>"Oh. Right. Thanks." Nagisa replied, still not sure what to expect from this bizarre situation. he glanced at the menu.</p><p>"I don't really know what to recommend; I don't have a sense of taste, afterall, the food here might be awful." Gakushuu said lightly. "I always get coffee. It might just be a placebo effect but I swear I can still get a buzz off caffeine. Plus at least the hot sensation is <em>something."</em> </p><p>The Waitress came and took their order, Gakushuu got a large coffee, Nagisa asked for a pot of tea, and things seemed far too normal, Nagisa was starting to wonder if Gakushuu really was a Vampire at all.</p><p>"So. How long have you known Karma?" Gakushuu asked, his tone was breezy, but Nagisa noticed the shift in his expression when he mentioned the other. </p><p>"A few months." Nagisa replied, looking down into his drink, seeing his own murky reflection looking back at him. "What about you?"</p><p>"<em>Years.</em>" Gakushuu said, Nagisa wondered if he meant decades, centuries or even millennium, but before he could ask, the other continued. "And through all the <em>years </em>I've been alive, he's still the worst person I've ever met. You should really forget about him, if you know what's good for you."</p><p>"What's so bad about Karma?" Nagisa frowned. Gakushuu laughed, the sound was completely humerlous.</p><p>"You mean you haven't realised yet? His inability to take anything seriously? His complete disregard for human life?" Gakushuu listed. The mask was slipping, and his expression was one of repressed anger.</p><p>"That's not a reason to want to kill him." Nagisa retorted.</p><p>"You don't know anything." Gakushuu hissed. "You should stop wasting your life going on stupid little adventures with him and get back to the real world!"</p><p>"Those 'stupid little adventures' are better than anything going on in the so-called real-world." Nagisa replied, meeting Gakushuu's infuriated expression with his own venomous glare.</p><p>"That might be the saddest thing I've ever heard." Gakushuu said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. Nagisa almost flinched at the harshness of his tone. "You don't know how lucky you have it. You can do anything; aim for any school you want, travel were you want, grow up to be whatever kind of person you want to be. You should be focusing your energy on your future instead of pissing it away with some stupid Vampire who only cares about how he can keep himself entertained for the next five minutes."</p><p>"What do you know about my life?" Nagisa asked, feeling his hands ball into fists. "I can be whoever I want? I have the chance of some sort of bright future? Everything about my life has always been dictated to me by my mother and my teachers, and whatever other busybody adults. I'm not smart enough, rich enough or charismatic enough to do what I want. The best I can hope for is getting into a mid-range university to study something I don't care about, to get a job I hate, to take care of kids I don't want. That's all I thought there was for me until Karma showed up! The only luck I've ever had is meeting Karma."</p><p>"You don't know anything about Karma- "</p><p>"And who do you think you are, wanting to kill Karma because he's in your territory? Wanting to stop me from seeing him because <em>you </em>don't approve."</p><p>"You really are an idiot- "</p><p>"Thanks for the tea. I'm leaving. " Nagisa snapped, cutting him off. He hurried out of the cafe, his hands shaking and his breathing ragged. He didn't know why he'd gotten so angry. That wasn't like him at all, but Gakushuu had hit a nerve somehow. He stepped outside into the street, taking in a few deep breaths of the cold evening air, starting to feel himself calm down as he did so. Maybe getting into an argument with a homicidal Vampire hadn't been his smartest move. He glanced behind him, but Gakushuu hadn't followed him. </p><p>When he walked home that night, Nagisa kept glancing behind him. If Gakushuu had the same powers as Karma, he knew the other would be able to stalk him from the shaodws and strike before he had a chance to retaliate, but he made it home safe that night.</p><hr/><p>"Hey Nagisa, who was the guy you were having coffee with yesterday?" Rio said, leaning over his desk with wide eyes and a smile on her face. Kurahashi, who was next to her chimed in.</p><p>"Yeah. He was cute. Does he go to a school nearby? Do you have his number?"</p><p>Nagisa looked up at him, The tiny part of his brain that thought the whole Vampire thing was some sort of delusion was officially proven wrong. "He's just an acquaintance. I don't have him number." He said with an awkward smile. </p><hr/><p> </p><p>    When the fifth day finally came, Nagisa had been a wreck since morning. He couldn't face going to school, so for the first time in his life, he played hooky. He knew he wouldn't be able to see Karma until nightfall, but he still found himself wandering around Karma's usual haunts; the backstreets, the abandoned quarry. As the sunlight got weaker and the shadows grew longer, Nagisa's anxiety just grew.</p><p>What if Gakushuu and Karma were already fighting somewhere? What if Karma had already lost? Karma could be killed and Nagisa wouldn't even know, he'd just be left looking for him forever. He found himself running along the steel bridge were Karma had first revealed to him he was a vampire, desperately looking into the quarry below for some sort of sign of two people fighting.</p><p>Suddenly, he heard the sound of footfall landing softy behind him- the telltale sign of Karma arriving somewhere- without even thinking, Nagisa turned whipped around and grabbed the other, pulling him into a hug. "I was so worried about you, Karma."</p><p>"Wrong person." Said a familiar voice. Nagisa looked up recognising Gakushuu. He jumped back so violently he nearly launched himself off the bridge, only Gakushuu's hand grabbing the front of his shirt stopped him.</p><p>"I'm sorry- " Nagisa blurted out. Gakushuu looked as uncomfortable as he did, Nagisa didn't realise Vampires could blush. </p><p>"Whatever. Where is Karma?" Gakushuu said, crossing his arms and looking the other way. </p><p>"I don't know. I was looking for him." Nagisa said, his heart still felt like it might explode, but it was slowly slowing down to a normal pace. "You mean you can't find him either."</p><p>"Unbelievable. He's unbelievable. If we're having a fight, then obviously, it would be here." Gakushuu said, indicating to the quarry below. He kicked a stone in anger. "he is getting worse with keeping track of time every year I swear to God."</p><p>"Maybe he really did skip town like you asked?" Nagisa suggested. He really hoped that wasn't true, he'd like to think if Karma was going to leave him he'd at least say goodbye.</p><p>"No. That idiot is still about somewhere in the city. I can sense that much." Gakushuu said. He was acting as if Karma had missed a business meeting rather than a deathmatch. "Whatever. I'm going to find him- "</p><p>He turned to, stepping forward to the edge of the building, preparing to fly away. Nagisa grabbed the edge of his jacket.</p><p>"Wait- " He blurted out. "Please don't kill Karma."</p><p>"If Karma would leave like I asked him to, I wouldn't have to." Gakushuu said with a huff, he pulled out of Nagisa's grip.</p><p>"Wait!" Nagisa repeated. "Take me with you; If something happens to Karma, I need to know, I don't want him to just.. disappear." </p><p>Gakushuu regarded Nagisa for a long time with a skeptical gaze, before sighing. "Fine." He said, holding out his hand. "But don't slow me down."</p><hr/><p>"So you can sense Karma? How does that work?" Nagisa asked, shivering slightly as the two of them stood on the top of a skyscraper looking down at the streets below.</p><p>"Like the world's worst sat-nav." Gakushuu said. He had pulled out a pair of bonoculars from his coat and was scouring for signs of Karma.</p><p>"Can all Vampires sense each other?"</p><p>"No." Gakushuu replied, not offering any further explanation. Like all his interactions with Gakushuu thus far, the situation was bizarre, Nagisa was literally tagging along to watch Gakushuu hunt down his friend because he didn't want to be left out. </p><p>"Why can you and Karma- "</p><p>"Found him." Gakushuu said with a grin, cutting Nagisa off.</p><p>Half a minute later, Nagisa and Gakushuu had touched down in an old abandoned amusement park. Nagisa's legs felt jelly and his stomach was doing butterflies; flying with Gakushuu was being dragged at top speeds through the sky compared to the magical experience it had been with Karma ("Don't you dare vomit on me" Gakushuu had warned him before they'd taken off). </p><p>Karma was sat in one of the carriages of the ferris wheel, lounging back without a care in the world. There was a book in his hand, which despite the darkness he was apparently reading. He looked up when the two of them arrived and smiled.</p><p>"Hey, don't tell me you two were hanging out without me." He said with a casual smile. Nagisa glanced at Gakushuu who was stood next to him. The blond looked like he might actually explode.</p><p>"Did you forget what day it was?" Gakushuu said, pulling himself up to his full height and glaring at Karma. "I gave you a chance to leave, but you didn't take it. Now you have to die."</p><p>Karma laughed, but there was a glint of malice in his eyes. "How many times have we fought, Shu, and how many times have you won? Because last time I checked it was zero times." He said, pulling himself into standing position. "I'm starting to think your a closet masochist."</p><p>"Lets see if you can keep laughing when you don't have a head!" Gakushuu growled, jumping up from the ground and barreling into Karma. Nagisa was suddenly hit by how <em>real </em>this really was. He wasn't sure why, maybe because he seemed so <em>human </em>in a lot of ways, but it had not truly registered with Nagisa's psyche that Gakushuu was really intending on mudering his best friend. Now he was seeing it play about before him, and it was horrifying.</p><p>The fight was almost too fast for Nagisa to follow, especially in the dark, there were just the sound of growls and laughter, and the flashes of limbs tearing at each other. Their strength was beyond human ability; Karma threw Gakushuu at one point hard enough to leave a dint in the metal walls of the fun house. Nagisa could do nothing but watch helplessly at these two boys tried to tear each other apart. Nagisa's cry to 'please stop' fell on deaf ears.</p><p>After a couple of minutes though, it was clear that Gakushuu was getting the upper-hand. With one particularly well-timed kick, Gakushuu had Karma on the floor underneath his foot. Nagisa felt his breath stop in his throat; was he going to kill him? Karma was no longer laughing, he was just looking up at Gakushuu with a confused expression.</p><p>"You shouldn't of underestimated me." Gakushuu was saying, as he dug his foot into the other's throat. "I've gotten stronger since we last saw each other. Now I can finally have my revenge."</p><p>"No!" Nagisa cried out, running forwards without even thinking about it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the tiny bottle of holy water he'd been carrying around ever since he'd started researching how to kill Vampires. He pulled the cap off in one fluid motion and threw the contents, watching the water splatter over Gakushuu.</p><p>"What the hell was that for?" Gakushuu shouted, looking at Nagisa with a confused expression. He let out a sudden hiss of pain and jumped away from Karma. "Why does this water <em>sting</em>?"</p><p>Karma pulled himself up off the floor quickly, he actually looked pretty shaken, it wasn't an expression Nagisa was used to seeing on the other, but that quickly turned into a smile when he realised what Nagisa had done. "You just let a human swill you with holy water." Karma said triumphantly. Gakushuu glared at Nagisa with the most hateful expression he'd ever seen.</p><p>"Why did you have to get involved?" Gakushuu breathed out, he was doubled over, clutching his face. Nagisa could see angry red burn marks forming on his skin.</p><p>"I'm sorry, I didn't want you to kill Karma.. I didn't want to hurt you." Nagisa said, actually starting to feel bad because Gakushuu genuinely looked to be in quite a bit of pain. Karma apparently found the whole situation very amusing, he stepped towards Gakushuu and took the other's face in his hands. To Nagisa's surprise, Gakushuu didn't pull away and just let Karma inspect the burn marks on his face. Even though they had been fighting moments earlier, there was a degree of familiarity in their interaction with each other.</p><p>"Yeah, Nagisa got you good." Karma said, a playful smirk on his lips. "You know the only thing that helps with <em>those </em>types of burns is the blood of another Vampire, right?"</p><p>Gakushuu and Nagisa both had their eyes fixed on Karma, waiting for him to continue.</p><p>"But you want me gone, Shuu, so I bet you wont want my blood, huh?" Karma teased, patting Gakushuu on the cheek before pulling his hands back. "I guess you'll have to find another Vampire to help you, since you want nothing to do with me, right?"</p><p>Gakushuu glared at Nagisa and Karma in turn before looking down at the floor for and staying silent for a moment. He had his hands on his face, but Nagisa could see the redness spreading, turning into painful looking blisters. </p><p>"Okay. Fine. Let me have your blood." Gakushuu finally relented. Karma's smile grew even wider, he was having way too much fun with this.</p><p>"Wow, is that any way to ask for a favour, Shuu, especially after you tried to kill me?" Karma said. Gakushuu looked like he wanted to kill him, but instead he swallowed and took and deep breath before saying.</p><p>"I'll stop trying to kill you. So let me have some of your blood. Please." It seemed almost physically painful for him to say these words. Karma sauntered back over to him like a wolf circling it's prey. </p><p>"Of course. All you had to do was ask." Karma said, holding out his wrist to Gakushuu. Gakushuu bared his fangs and bit him. Karma didn't look bothered, but Nagisa winced on his behalf seeing how deep the Gakushuu's fangs burrowed into the other's flesh. Like magic, the wounds on Gakushuu's face started to recede, and his skin returned to it's previous smooth complexion. Nagisa watched in amazment. After a moment, Gakushuu let go, taking a step back and pulling out a handkerchief of all things, and wiping the blood off his chin.</p><p>"You know, if your little human pet wasn't here, you'd be dead." Gakushuu spat at Karma. Karma just carried on smirking.</p><p>"Since you and Nagisa have already made friends, the three of us should hand out some time." Karma said breezily. At this point, Nagisa wasn't sure if he genuinly lacked any ability to read the room or if he was intentionally trying to make Gakushuu angry. Probably the second one.</p><p>"He is <em>not  </em>my friend. That little toerag just neary burnt my face off- " Gakushuu accused, pointing at Nagisa, who put his hands up defensively.</p><p>"You started it- " Nagisa shot back, feeling a lot less guilty now Gakushuu was cured. Gakushuu huffed.</p><p>"Whatever. I've wasted enough time on the two of you already." He said, he flipped them off (Karma burst out laughing) then flew off into the night. Nagisa let out a sigh of relief, watching him go.</p><p>"Are you sure you an just let him go?" Nagisa asked, starting to feel exhausted suddenly as the adrenaline finally started to wear off. "What if he attacks you again? that attack was pretty close.."</p><p>"Nah. It'll be fine. Shu usually sticks to his word. He's probably just off sulking somewhere." Karma said, he put his hand on Nagisa's head petting his hair. "You really surprised me with the holy water though. I didn't think you had that in you."</p><p>Nagisa gave a small smile. Now the fighting was over, he felt a mixture of elation and relief wash over him. "Well. I wasn't about to let him kill my best friend without a fight."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I don't know why I made Karma an actual himbo in this. <br/>At first, I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to fit Gakushuu in this story, but I kind of like how his plays against Nagisa and Karma. <br/>For the Holy Water scene, i originally wanted the water to just, not work, and for Gakushuu to be like 'Why did you throw water at me. rude' I thought that would be really funny, but then I wasn't sure how to end the fight. <br/>As you can probably tell, Gakushuu and Karma have a pretty complicated relationship but I'm not going to expand on that too much just yet. <br/>Anyway! I really loved reading all the reviews for the previous chapter! I love seeing what people think of this story</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So this story is vaguely based on the Peter Pan novel (Which has some surprisingly nuanced themes when you read it as an adult) and Karma is obviously based on Peter, hence his terrible memory when it comes to dates and arrangements. </p><p>In the next chapter I'm planning to write how Karma and Nagisa met.<br/>Let me know what you thought.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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